Everything started a very long time ago, about 5 centuries BC in the place where today lies Great Britain and Northern France. At that time, the Celtics lived according to many beliefs and one of them is the beginning of this well known celebration. The Celtics celebrated New Year on November 1st with a festival that indicated the end of the "Sun Season" and the beginning of the "Dark and Cold Season". Our modern celebration of "Halloween" is a descendant of the ancient Celtic fire festival called Samhain. The word is pronounced "sow-in", with "sow" rhyming with cow. In a very old tale, Samhain was the Lord of Death and Prince of Darkness. The first meaning of Halloween was to frighten and send away the souls of the dead. It was believed that all the souls of people who dies that year would only go to heaven the day before Saint's Day (November 1st). "All Saint's Day" or "Hallow's Day" are synonyms, thus "Hallow's Eve" is the day before "Hallow's Day". Halloween was brought to the United States of America by the Irish immigrants in 1840. The word Halloween means holy or sacred. The colors of Halloween are black and orange to suggest ideas of death and harvest.     History of the "Trick or Treat" Custom This custom dates from the very beginning of the celebration. Ever since the 5th Century, when they believed the souls of the dead people who died the year before November 1st, would stay around until this day to go to heaven. They would offer different food and drink to the souls, so they wouldn't be hungry or thirsty. Many of the people would imitate fairies and go from house to house begging for treats. Failure to supply the treats would usually result in practical jokes being visited on the owner of the house. The folks who were abroad in the night imitating fairies would sometimes carry turnips carved to represent faces. This is the origin of our modern "Jack-o-Lantern". As time passed, the food was converted into candies for the children. Today this has become only a fun celebration.     History of the Jack-o-Lantern This custom has its origins on a very old tale, also dated 5th century BC. It is said that a man named Jack made a deal with the devil, so he always had to light up a turnip with an ember he received from the devil. When the Irish immigrants went to America, they didn't find many turnips, instead they found lots of pumpkins, so they started lighting the hollow pumpkins in order to send the devil away.